Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

Following the guidance from the Scottish Government with regards to the coronavirus outbreak, a decision has been taken to put healthyliving award (HLA) assessments and quality assurance visits on hold for the next six months, until October 2020.

We know that you will all be playing your part at home and at work to do what you can to maintain the health and safety of staff and employees, your customers and your families, while at the same time retaining a focus on your business. We are doing the same at HLA.

We recognise that this is a very fluid situation, and we are all balancing many competing priorities. We will continue to monitor the situation as things progress.

We have developed a question and answer article on our website, which hopefully covers a lot of the questions you might have about our award. You can access this and all our news at www.healthylivingaward.co.uk/news

The team are still available to offer remote support and you can contact us via email or through our website and social media channels at www.healthylivingaward.co.uk/about-us/contact-us

Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Email -– enquiries@healthylivingaward.co.uk

Website – www.healthylivingaward.co.uk

Facebook – www.facebook.com/HealthyLivingAward

Twitter – www.twitter.com/hlaward

Welcome to coretalk

Welcome to the spring edition of coretalk.

We are aware that this edition comes at a very difficult time and we want to support sites as much as possible with the changes you will be experiencing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and social distancing measures. We have provided some information on changes to our service and how to get in contact with us inside this edition. Check our website or follow us on Twitter: @hlaward or Facebook: www.facebook.com/healthylivingaward for the most up-to-date information.

We also bring you some light reading on seasonal springtime cooking and celebrate the success of some newly awarded sites. You can find out why City of Glasgow College’s City Bistro decided to progress to the healthyliving award plus. Rutherglen Town Hall Cafe’s Peter Corcoran shares why he thinks healthy eating is good for business, and Joanne Burns of the Food and Drink Federation discusses its new Reformul8 project. You can also read about our move to Public Health Scotland, our new parent organisation.

www.healthylivingaward.co.uk

Introducing Public Health Scotland

On 1 April 2020, healthyliving award (HLA) moved into Public Health Scotland (PHS). The newly established public health body reports to Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). The organisation was formed to provide leadership at national and local levels to enable organisations to work together to improve health and wellbeing in communities.

The new public health organisation aims to address Scotland’s three major health challenges which are:

• Scotland’s relatively poor health (compared with the rest of Western Europe)
• the significant and persistent inequalities in health outcomes in Scotland
• the unsustainable pressures on health and social care services.

PHS has identified and will focus on six main public health priorities and you can read more about them at www.publichealthscotland.scot

The new chief executive for PHS, Angela Leitch, took up her post in November 2019. Having spent more than 25 years working with local government, Angela brings a wealth of experience to the role. She has a deep understanding of how local communities and the wider public sector can work effectively together, which will be a significant asset to the new organisation.

For more information about the new partnership visit https://publichealthreform.scot, follow @phrscot on Twitter or email the reform team on publichealthreform@scot.gov

Coronavirus Support and Information

To support our award holders and our wider readership at this time, we have pulled together ideas about where to go for advice and support that you might need.

Scotland Food and Drink has a daily briefing during the coronavirus outbreak giving information on the strategic work it is doing with industry leaders and Scottish Government, as well as the advice on offer to businesses and workers. You can read more and sign up for a daily email link at: www.foodanddrink.scot/news/coronavirus-scotland-food-drinkupdate/

Scottish Tourism Alliance has launched a hub of advice and information for those in the tourism industry. This includes information about the Scottish Government’s recently launched business helpline which can be reached on 0300 303 0660 (Monday to Friday) – callers should select option one to speak to the COVID-19 team. On the Scottish Tourism Alliance website you can also access its daily update on all things related to coronavirus to help protect tourism businesses. Find out more here: https://scottishtourismalliance.co.uk/coronavirusadvice-for-businesses-covid-19/

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has developed a coronavirus information hub providing support around staffing and advice for emergency funding, helpful for community cafes and those working in the third sector. You can find out more information and get in touch with the team here: https://scvo.org.uk/support/coronavirus/

Finally, you can access help and support from our team by emailing enquiries@healthylivingaward.co.uk or checking our Q&A at: www.healthylivingaward.co.uk/news

 

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